


They DON'T Both Die At The End

by CoolPepCat



Category: They both die at the end
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-20
Updated: 2017-11-20
Packaged: 2019-02-04 13:36:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,019
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12772170
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CoolPepCat/pseuds/CoolPepCat
Summary: I really liked the book "They Both Die At The End", but I really, really had to write an alternate ending, where, well, you can infer from there.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This was meant to simulate the writing style and chapter format seen in the book, which is why it's in first person for Rufus and Mateo.
> 
> Edit- Woa people really like this- if anyone is interested in me maybe continuing this fic leave a comment- other wise I'd be happy leaving it where it is!!

September 5th 2017

**Rufus**

11:50 AM

_I love you._ The words kept racing in my head. I was trying to sleep, but the fluttering in my chest made me a little too uncomfortable to fall completely. I didn't know what time it was, I didn't care. I was with him, and he was with me; I thought he was, anyways.

I started hearing clanging in the kitchen a few moments later, and my instincts sparked to life. I scrambled up, and clutched where Mateo was (Except he wasn't).  _No no no no no!_ I thought, he wasn't supposed to leave the bedroom, much less the bed. My blood was pumping fast, and I scrambled out of Mateo's room and into the kitchen. I found him, staring at me with a confused expression on his face.

Sheepishly, he looked towards me, and back at...a tea kettle? Was he making tea? I shot him a nasty glare that screamed 'Don't. Do. Anything'. He held up a hand and backed up. I walked slowly around the room; something was off. It was dead silent between me and Mateo, I could tell he was ready to die. I wasn't.

_Hsssssssss._  

Something was definitely wrong. I took a long breath through my nose, the air smelled off, and I became lightheaded. I quickly understood.

"Don't turn on the oven," I ordered, grabbing Mateo and moving him away, "There's a gas leak in here, we need to get out."

Mateo's eyes widened in fear, and he started moving slow. It was a little infuriating watching him cautiously step around. At this point I assumed that we were going to die of gas inhalation if he was going to go this slow.

"Mateo, I don't think that your rubber shoes are going to start a fire," I said, watching him. He gave me another fearful glance, and I shut up.

We made it out of his apartment, and moved slowly, slowly down the stairs.

When we made it to the bottom, I couldn't think to do anything but call 911. I asked the operator to send a firetruck, praying that there wouldn't be police officers as well.

I held Mateo close after that, making sure we were close to the apartment complex. His breathing was quick and erratic. Though I could feel his anxiety, I was honestly just happy he was still breathing. We were gonna ride it out to the end.

Soon the firefighters arrived- and thankfully no police officers. The captain jumped out of his truck, hose at the ready. He regarded me in confusion.

"Where's the fire?" he asked. I stammered.

"Well...there isn't any?" I replied. The operator hadn't asked for a reason, she just sent a truck, "I wasn't sure who else to call. There's a gas leak in there."

"Oh. That's alright! Jones, grab the gas masks would ya?" he called back to his team. Before walking to evacuate the building, he stopped near me and Mateo, "Looks like you two escaped death, narrowly."

That made me snap back into reality. We  _were_ going to die. I lifted my phone and clicked it on...

12:02 AM. What...? What? I looked to Mateo, he was staring at the screen. First thing I did was screenshot my phone and upload a picture to Instagram, captioned with a question mark and #EndDay?

The second thing I did was call Pluto, specifically Malcom. It picked up almost immediately.

"H-hello?" Malcom answered. He was obviously expecting Peck to call him to tauntingly say I was dead.

"...Hi," I replied. Everyone was silent.


	2. Chapter 2

September 6th, 2017

**Mateo Torrez**

12:04 AM

Rufus only had one free hand to talk on the phone, because I was hogging the other. We lived, we lived, we lived. Everything was going so fast, I couldn't think to do anything but cling to Rufus. I heard the people of Pluto freaking out on the other end of the line when Aimee took the phone. She was loud, very loud. I could hear every word she said through Rufus' phone.

"Are you serious?" she shouted, "You're alive, oh Rufus you're alive you're alive!"

"I...I am alive. We're alive," I felt him squeeze my hand as he spoke, "Listen, we need to regroup. Can you all come to Mateo's house?"

There was some more mumbling and arguing that I couldn't make out. I started to zone out big time, thinking about...everything. I was alive, Rufus was alive, it was the next day. Death-Cast was wrong, Death-Cast was wrong! A surge of emotion overwhelmed me, I could feel my knees buckle. I was crying, and I must have been crying loud because Rufus immediately hung up.

"Hey hey, what's up?" Rufus asked, "Okay, that was a stupid question, but..."

"I...I'm just..." I hiccuped, trying to get my words out. Rufus wrapped his arms around me, trying to console the crying lump attached to him, "We lived, we're alive!"

"We're alive," he echoed, less enthusiastic than I'd assume he'd be. I just fell into him and broke out into downright sobbing. One of the firefighters, tasked to stay outside with us, spoke up.

"Wait...were you deckers?" 

Rufus nodded, "Yeah...we were both called yesterday," he paused, "Though I'm still worried."

"Don't say that!" I whined, still quivering. I didn't need another panic attack.

"...Sorry."

We both stood outside for a long time. I was trying to keep my thoughts together, but everything fell apart. Everything I knew was falling apart. Death-Cast was wrong. As far as anyone knew, Death-Cast was never wrong. Today...they were wrong.

That got me thinking. If I were to turn on that oven...I was going to die. If I were to make tea...I was going to die. If I were to make tea for Rufus, I was going to die. Meeting Rufus almost killed me. That hit me hard, and I didn't know what to think. I didn't want to think. I just wanted to stop everything for a while, who knows what was going to happen now.

Death-Cast was wrong.


End file.
